Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Into an Era of Hyperbole

As if a bold headline declaring the impossible weren’t
enough, just about one year after the hopeful newspaper report of osteopathic
doctor R. F. Robie’s willingness to take on Samuel Bean’s case, the Oakland Tribune was once again heaping hyperbole
upon the young man.

This time, the occasion was Sam’s impending graduation from
high school. Yes, after a six year course of study, and despite being both
blind and deaf, Sam had actually mastered all that was required of a high
school student in the State of California and was about to receive his diploma.
However, unlike all the other
students in California about to receive their
diploma that year, on the evening of the exercises at the California School
for the Deaf and Blind—May 2, 1919—Sam was twenty three.

It seems the whole city was cheering Sam on—at least, that’s
the feeling one can get, reading the headlines leading into the May 11, 1919, Tribune article. Under not one, but three—yes,
count them below: three—lines of headlines, Sam was now pronounced “Wonder
Student.”

Certified to have “surmounted all obstacles in the pathway of
education,” Sam was declared by the Tribune
“now ready to fight life’s battles for himself.”

Since this article came almost exactly one year to the day
after the announcement about the theorized possibility of restoring Sam’s
hearing, the silence about any such success seems to shout almost as loudly. The
graduation article emphasizes Sam’s blind and deaf condition as if nothing had
changed in the ensuing year.

Noting that “after six years of tireless work mastering all
of the required subjects with only his fingers to guide him,” Sam would be “the
first student afflicted with both deafness and blindness to be graduated by the
school,” the news report reveals there was no change in his condition.

There was still much to celebrate, though. After all, Sam’s “achievement
in completing a regular high school [course of study] has been a source of
marvel to educators in all parts of the country.”

According to reports received by the Tribune about Sam, “he
has fought his battle with a courage and cheerfulness which has given
inspiration to many of the more fortunate pupils at the state school.”

Though such hyperbole may seem excessive, no one can deny
Sam Bean made a remarkable effort in the face of what, to many others, may have
seemed like insurmountable obstacles.

When the newspaper reports talked about his teachers and close friends as being constant companions, that's pretty much how it was. They were his connection to the outside world, serving as interpreter as well as guide. Without that enormous boost, I imagine his world was indeed a solitary experience.

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Oh, I missed this post (glad I have Feedly now, though), and did not read about this extremely loud silence. So the chance of restoring hearing or sight was now gone. That's too bad. It's a testament to the community that they took Sam to their hearts as the wonder he was.

Mariann, yes, it appeared that the only result of that episode was the raising of false hopes. So sad. There was one more newspaper article that I had found a while back--very small and buried deep within the paper--but, as it turns out, I never bookmarked the reference and can't retrace my steps now. Suffice it to say the doctor apparently discovered that whatever cure was out there would not apply to our Sam. From everything I've read about him since then, there is no indication of any such success, so I can only surmise he was left in that same condition.

Not that these "wonder cures" don't happen. Considering that time frame and all the scientific advances yet to occur in their lifetimes, there were more "miracle" possibilities ahead. Even for Sam's future wife--Maud Woodworth--hopeful reports turned into practical help (Maud regained some of her eyesight).

About Me

It is my contention that, after a lifetime, one of the greatest needs people have is to be remembered. They want to know: have I made a difference?
I write because I can't keep for myself the gifts others have entrusted to me. Through what I've already been given--though not forgetting those to whom I must pass this along--from family I receive my heritage; through family I leave a legacy. With family I weave a tapestry. These are my strands.